1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a robot cleaner system, and, more particularly, to a robot cleaner system having a docking station installed to suction and remove dust collected in a robot cleaner.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cleaner is an appliance to get rid of dirt and clean a room. Generally used is a vacuum cleaner to suction dirt by use of a suction force generated from a low-pressure unit. Recently, the development of a robot cleaner is underway. The robot cleaner get rids of dirt from the floor by a self-running function thereof without a user's labor.
Generally, the robot cleaner is used together with a station (hereinafter, referred to as a “docking station”), to constitute a single system. The docking station is located at a desired position of a room and has the function of charging the robot cleaner or removing dust collected in the robot cleaner.
An example of the robot cleaner system is disclosed in U.S. Published Patent No. 2005/0150519. The disclosed robot cleaner system includes a robot cleaner, and a docking station having a dust suction unit. The robot cleaner has a dust suction port perforated in the bottom thereof, and a brush is rotatably installed to the suction hole to sweep away dust on the floor. The docking station has a deck formed with a slope to allow the robot cleaner to ascend thereon, and a dust suction port is formed in a position of the slope. With this configuration, if the robot cleaner ascends along the slope and reaches a docking position, the suction hole of the robot cleaner and the suction hole of the slope are aligned to face each other. In this state, dust collected in the robot cleaner can be got rid of by operation of the suction unit.
In the above described conventional robot cleaner system, the suction of dust from the robot cleaner into the docking station is carried out, in a state wherein both the suction holes of the robot cleaner and the docking station simply face each other, without a docking device to connect the robot cleaner and the docking station to each other. This, however, has a problem of the great loss of a suction force generated from the suction unit or causing the dust being moved from the robot cleaner into the docking station to be leaked again into a room.
As a solution of the above described problems, Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2007-0010298 discloses a dust-removal device (docking station) for a robot cleaner, which has a connector to be moved up and down by operation of a drive device.
If the robot cleaner docks with the dust-removal device, the connector of the dust-removal device is moved down to be inserted into the robot cleaner, thereby communicating with a dust receptacle provided in the robot cleaner. In this state, dust collected in the dust receptacle of the robot cleaner can be suctioned into the dust-removal device through the connector by operation of a fan motor assembly of the dust-removal device.
In the above described dust-removal device, since the suction of dust from the robot cleaner into the dust-removal device is carried out in a state wherein the connector of the dust-removal device is inserted into the robot cleaner, the dust collected in the robot cleaner can be efficiently removed without the loss of a suction force. However, to move the connector, it is necessary to provide a drive device for the connector within the dust-removal device, and this has a problem of complicating the configuration of the dust-removal device.